Octavia Hill was a pioneering housing reformer born in 1838. In 1864, she managed her first housing properties in London, financed by social critic John Ruskin. By 1875, archives show she was responsible for managing at least 3,000 tenants. She went on to found the National Trust in 1895 and campaigned for open spaces for the working class. Upon her death in 1912, volunteers she had trained formed the Association of Women Housing Workers. Over the decades, various organizations in the housing field merged and changed names, with the Institute of Housing forming in 1974 and receiving its royal charter in 1984. Octavia Hill's influence on social housing and housing management has endured for over 170 years.